The present invention relates to cleansing fluid dispensers for toilets. More specifically, the present invention provides a chlorine retention reservoir for dispensing a concentrated chlorine solution into a bowl of a toilet immediately when the toilet is flushed. The chlorine retention reservoir is designed to hold a commercial chlorine tablet within the housing for a rapid refill and production of a saturated chlorine solution. In use, the chlorine tablet is left partially wrapped so as to minimize erosion of the tablet. A preferred method is to remove the opposite wrapper corners, thereby allowing the fluids to coarse through the wrapper so as to partially dissolve the tablet. The flush cycle of a toilet typically takes 22 seconds. During the cycle, incoming water into the reservoir creates turbulence, designed to slowly dissolve the commercial chlorine tablet within the housing, followed by a period of calm. The tablet will continue to dissolve for a short period until the saturation point is reached. Reactivation begins immediately with the next flush as the concentrated chlorine solution is dumped into the toilet bowel, at the peak of high bactericidal activity. The turbulence begins again as fresh water from another flush enters the chlorine retention reservoir from all directions to activate the absorption of the partially protected chlorine tablet. The chlorine retention reservoir maintains a sizeable quantity of a saturated chlorine solution effective against most gram negative and gram-positive strains of bacteria, including highly resistant strains of re-emerging bacteria.
Alternatively, many people add cleansing products to the holding tank of a toilet in order to deliver a disinfectant into the toilet bowl when the toilet is flushed. One such cleansing product that is commonly used is a chlorine tablet. Typically, the tablet is placed within the holding tank where it dissolves over time when subjected to water from a flush. In many instances, the chlorine tablet does not result in a highly concentrated chlorine solution because it is subjected to a large volume of water. Furthermore, the tablet may not dissolve sufficiently within the holding tank because it is not subjected to adequate mixing. Unfortunately, this weakened dose of chlorine may not effectively kill certain chlorine resistant bacteria within the toilet bowl and can have the opposite effect thereby enhancing growth of the resistant bacteria. Because the bacteria may not be adequately destroyed, the toilet bowl retains foul odors and stains caused by the bacteria. Therefore, some users may choose to add a concentrated disinfectant to the holding tank in order to kill the bacteria within the bowl. However, when adding highly concentrated disinfectants to the holding tank, this can have a negative effect on the internal components of the holding tank. Specifically, the flapper valve and any rubber or plastic fittings may suffer from degradation when subjected to concentrated disinfectants or solvents.
Devices have been disclosed in the known art that relate to cleansing fluid dispensers for toilets. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to automatic dispensing reservoirs that dispense a concentrated cleansing fluid into the holding tank of the toilet. Many of these devices are configured to attach to the inside wall or base of the tank wherein a concentrated cleansing fluid is released into the holding tank after or during each flush. Other devices attached directly to the toilet bowl in order to deliver a cleansing solution.
These known art devices have several known drawbacks. Most of these devices are design to be placed within the holding tank of the toilet. The key feature of many of these devices is that they release a cleansing solution into the water within the holding tank prior to flushing. Certain cleansing solutions, such as chlorine solutions, tend to degrade the rubberized or plastic fittings within the tank over time. Other devices only release cleansing solutions with low concentrations of chemicals that may protect these fittings from degrading, but do not kill the majority of bacteria within the toilet bowl. Finally, devices configured to attach to the toilet bowl itself tend to be small and do not provide a significant coverage amount of disinfectant to the toilet bowl. Therefore, a chlorine retention reservoir designed to attach within the holding tank of a toilet and safely deliver a concentrated chlorine solution to a toilet bowl is needed.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing toilet cleansing devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.